On the Mechanism of the Formation of Red Fluorescent Protein in the Digestive Juice of the Silkworm Larvae
1974 Volume 18 Issue 3 Pages 126-132
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1974 Volume 18 Issue 3 Pages 126-132
The formation of a red fluorescent protein (RFP), an anti-viral substance present in the digestive juice, was studied in “in vitro” system. The RFP was produced by incubating the mixture of the homogenate of the midgut and the chloroplast of spinach leaves for 2hr (37°C, pH 10.4). The midgut was obtained from 5th instar larvae which had been reared on an artificial diet. An active protein was isolated from the midgut of the larvae and two active substances, chlorophyll a and a basic protein, were obtained from the chloroplast of the spinach. The RFP was produced by incubating the mixture of these three pure active components in the same alkaline state as mentioned above. It was highly probable that the protein from the midgut was the protein-part of the RFP and the basic protein from the spinach was an enzyme which converts chlorophyll a into the pigment-part of the RFP.
